A very different Sleepingbeauty
by Huntress09
Summary: A Labyrinth version of the traditional Slepingbeauty fairytale, without spinning wheels. Set after the movie. JxS Chap 4 is now live.
1. Chapter 1

A Labyrinth fairytale

or

A very different sleeping beauty

There was a big party going on in Sarah's room, everyone she had encountered on her journey thru the labyrinth was there, even some of the goblins that had been trying to stop her from getting to the castle beyond the goblin city. Everyone but the king of the goblins himself.

Jareth was sitting outside Sarah's window in his owl form, observing his underlings and Sarah's party. Sir Didymus just won a game of scrabbles against Hoggle Agnes the junk-lady and Sara.

To say that he was happy by the outcome of his and Sarah's "game" would be lying, he had after all just been rejected by a 14 year old that idolized him to the point of having a figurine resembling him on her desk. But if he was totally honest to himself he would have been disappointed if Sara had given away her little brother just like that. It would have made him think a lot less of her if she had.

If an owl could sigh he would have, as it was he simply took one last look at the beautiful girl that had captured his heart, she was laughing at the goblins doing something silly, and flew away.

The sleepiness hit him like a brick as he entered the underground. When he finally got to his bed he had problems standing, he more or less fell on his bed and fell asleep instantly. He didn't even remove his boots before he hit his bed.

First it was Sarah's party ending late, and as goblins are very sensitive to changes in there sleeping pattern, the day after most of them slept all day, the ones that was awake walked around like zombies and did not really notice anything. The second day the castle goblins assumed that their king was sulking and no one can blame them as that was something Jareth probably would have done had he been awake.

When there had gone a week without anyone seeing or hearing anything from the king, some of the older and braver goblins decided that they needed to investigate the matter.

After searching the whole castle (and a lot of procrastination) they only had the kings bedchamber left to look in.

I was well known that any goblin that put there foot in the kings bedchamber was relocated to the bog of eternal stench immediately, and so the castle goblins put there heads together and found the solution of asking sir Didymus to search the kings camber, as he technically wasn't a goblin and did not suffer from the stench of the bog.

When Didymus entered the room the king still lay sprawled out over the bed the way he had fallen, sleeping like a dead, and nothing the valiant knight did could wake him up. The even went as fare as to start the chicken assembly up( the chicken assembly are a failed project of Brable the goblin to teach chickens to sing it ended whit a shortage of earplugs, the destruction of several windows and the goblin spending the rest of his days in the bog).

By that everyone was sure that the king wasn't just sleeping and sir Didymus set out to ask the Wiseman of the labyrinth if he knew what had happen to the king.

The Wiseman was sitting in the hedge labyrinth sleeping, at the same place that Sara had encountered him in the labyrinth. But sir Didymus did not know that as that was before he joined Sara on her quest thru the labyrinth.

Fortney the old man was easier to wake up that the king. After some shouting from sir Didymus and insulting from the Wisemans hat the Wiseman finally woke up.

- Wha…? What are you shouting for? The Wiseman asked sleepy.

- It is I Sir Didymus. I have come to you to seek counsel fore the king is asleep and neither man nor beast can wake him up! The little fox-like knight exclaimed passionately.

- Have you tried throwing water on him? Asked the Wiseman and yawned.

- Yes we have, we throw a whole bucket of cold water over him and still he sleeps like a rock! We even started the chicken assembly up in his bedroom and the only thing that happened was that he turned from the noise.

- Oh my. Sad the wise man and winced at the thought of the chicken assembly. He rose from the stone chair he'd been sitting in and walked to a bookshelf close by, sir Didymus could have sworn that there been nothing but hedge there a minute ago, the Wiseman took out a old dusty book from one of the top shelf's. Carefully he opened it and leafed thru till he got to the part he wanted.

- Ah! Her it is! "The Curse of the goblin king", I had forgotten about that one.

- Well? What dose it say you old fool? The hat said, obviously unable to keep quiet any longer.

- This was before even my time. The Wiseman said ignoring the hat. Not long after the labyrinth was created and Jareth became king, there was a fey that wished away her son. She immediately regretted her unthought-of wish and Jareth let her run the Labyrinth. But the fey was unable to beat the labyrinth and her son was lost to her. Crying the Fey woman cursed Jareth. "Your own heart shall beat your labyrinth, and when that happens, you will fall in to an enchanted sleep ever after, unless true loves first kiss awakes you." Yes that's it, it was so long ago that even Jaret has problem remembering it. Curses were very popular back then.

- So... to break this spell we need to find the kings true love? Sir Didymus asked.

- Yes but that shall not be very hard. As the curse says that "Your own heart shall beat your labyrinth" we can safely assume that it is the lady Sarah that is king Jareth's true love. The problem is that unless the lady asks about him we can not speak of the king to her. The Wiseman explained.

- Why not? Sir Didymus asked perplexed.

- Because of her last words to the king. He has no power over her and we may not interfere in that situation in any way. The wise man put the book back on the shelf and returned to his chair.

- Will you listen to this crap!? Stop speaking in riddles! The hat said to its wearer

The Wiseman snorted at the hats insults but saw that the knight had a look of confusion on his face to.

- Hmpf it is hard to explain. You just have to take my word for it that you will be unable to say a word about it unless the lady outright asks for news of the king. He said and promptly shut his eyes to signal that the session was over.

- And that's all fore today. Pleas leave a contribution in the box. The hat sad more or less mechanically and the little box was held forwards and shaken pointedly.

Sir Didymus found some spare change and a chicken feather in his pocket and left it in the box.

Thinking hard the brave little knight decided to seek counsel from his brothers, Ludo and Hoggel.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's Hoggle! And you know it!! "

"Sorry. I have fixt that now. Thank you nonwritten"

(Bloody English grammar and strange word endings)

I suppose I should warn everyone about my spelling. Since English is not my first languish I rely on spell check and that dose not always find all my mistakes, if you find some and have the time please point them out to me.

Thanks to Sarah Lawrence, nonwritten and Athena's Avatar for their flattering review's.

This story is planed to be two more chapters unless I get attacked by plot bunnies in the near future.

I apologise for Hoggle beforehand, I simply can't grasp his way of speaking.

Let's go on to the story.

* * *

The problem whit the attic of her father house, Sarah thought to herself, was that there was to much things in it. The boxes stapled on each other left only little room for walking around and turned the room in to something resembling a labyrinth. Fortunately Sarah was very good at labyrinths; she just wished that she did not have to search thru all of the boxes to find where Karen had put the boxes whit her things. She really needed that dress her mother sent her last Christmas if she was attending the fancy party next Friday.

Muttering about stepmothers and there incredible need to store everything Sara opened another box finding it full of her old toys and treasures. She slowly looked thru it feeling herself going thru her childhood at the same time as the toys. Teddy bears from her collection, posters and small trinkets from her mother and under her sea shell collection she found a red book and a statuette that resembled some one she had not thought about for a long time.

It had been seven years since she run the labyrinth and got her brother back. The last two years she only called on her labyrinth friends at Christmas. Her college life and her friends from the labyrinth didn't fit together. To explain how a furry giant, a dwarf and a fox-like knight got in to her corridor room at college would be too much of a challenge.

Sarah put the box and its content back where she found it and in deep thought walked straight to a another box and pulled out her dress as if she had known it was there all along.

Back in her room Sara hanged up her dress still in deep thought about her time in the labyrinth, her memories had faded over the years but now they returned by full force.

Her anger fore being left home whit the baby again, her fear when she realised what she had really done, the determination to save her brother she was the heroine after all of coarse she would save her brother. Her first meting whit Hoggle, the endless corridor, the worm, it was like she was back and running the labyrinth again. But there was something missing, actually someone was missing. All her memories of the goblin king was foggy. She remembered him but whit problem. Her other memories of the labyrinth was clear as crystal glass but those of the enigmatic king was clouded and full of bubbles in the glass, if you get the comparison.

Determined she walk to her desk and mirror and called on her friends.

"Sara! Why that weren't yester day now was it?"

"Fair lady our days have been dull and whit out sun light whiteout you her to brighten it for us."

" Sawa back!" Her three friends greeted her. Sara had not really noticed last time she called them but they all looked worn and tired. Hoggle had gotten even more wrinkled and his clothes were thorn and dirty. Sir Didymus seemed to bee more grey then red and his usually neat clothes were patched. Even Ludo showed signs of things not being as they should, his fur in tangles and he even had scars and cuts.

"Hi guys! How are you?" She said while taking in their appearance.

"Been better." Hoggle answered and the others just kept quiet.

"You look a bit torn." Sara said. And was met by silence they only looked at each other.

"What is it? I thought that you did not get punished by the king for helping me?" Sara said as that was the first reason she thought of for them to be worn.

"Hi did not. Sara do you remember a conversation we had a week or tow after you beet the labyrinth?" Hoggle said carefully.

"Which one? As I recall we talked a lot after I defeated the Labyrinth."

"The one when I explained that we," Hoggle showed at him self and his friends. "Are some times bound by stupid rules?"

"Oh that one. You mean that this is one of those times that I need to ask the right questions?"

"That is right my lady. We are bound by horrible magical bounds, and so unable to give you the information whit out the right questions." Sir Didymus said.

"Okay so it is a bit like 20 questions except I have as many questions I like and you can't answer if I don't ask the right question."

"Well aren't you the smart one?" Hoggle said sarcastically.

"So it is something that has happened in the labyrinth, dose it have something to do whit Jaret the goblin king?" Sara started ignoring Hoggle's comment.

"Yes."

"Is it something he has done?"

"Well not totally."

"But it is something that has to do whit him, has something happened to him?"

"Yes!"

"Okay what happened to the goblin king?"

"He fell asleep my lady."

"That's all? Let him sleep some. Even fairytale kings must get tired sometimes."

"Sara he fell asleep seven years ago and have not woken up at all since then. And the Labyrinth sleeps whit him."

"Wow. That is a long nap. But I thought that you didn't like him anyway, shouldn't you be happy whiteout him Hoggle?"

"Well... He may be a rat but he is the king. The labyrinth needs a king. The labyrinth takes influence from its king. And the goblins are getting out of hand, they only listen to Jareth." Hoggle explained squirming a little as he confessed.

"And there is the wished-a-way's to." Sir Didymus reminded him. "And the safety of the kingdom." He continued.

"What do you mean?" Sara asked.

"Jareth helped the wished away Change from human to goblin, making it faster an less painful. He also gave the wisher a chance to win back what he wished away. Now there is no one to do so. And the Labyrinth is unguarded from its neighbour country's whiteout its king. Thank all higher powers that the labyrinth is considered a small and unimportant kingdom and that Jareth always been on a bad foot whit most of his neighbours so nobody have suspected anything yet, then we would have been in serious trouble already.

"So he is useful for something other then prancing around in new sparkling clothes all the time." Sara said sarcastically

"Of cores my lady without King Jareth there would be no Labyrinth." Didymus said seriously. That's when Sarah understood the seriousness of the problem.

"So, how do we wake the goblin king? She simply asked.

"Not we Sarah, you. You are the only one that can wake him." Hoggle said seriously." You need to come back under ground and wake him."

"How do I come back underground?" Sarah asked.

"You simply step thru the mirror. It works both ways." Hoggle explained and stretched out his hand thru the mirror for Sarah to take. Sarah took the wrinkly and sunburned hand without hesitation. The mirror seemed to shift and ripple like liquid for a moment before it went back to normal showing an empty room.

* * *

And that's it sweets! I know this was quite boring and a loot of dialogue in this chapter but I needed to set the scene. The next chapter will be much more exiting and be set in the labyrinth! I can also guarantee that Jareth will bee in the next chapter and that the will be some time for him and Sara together. That sounded weird. Anyway I shall try to get this story finished whit in the next week as I start university the week after.

Thank you fore reading and please review to keep me motivated!


	3. Chapter 3

Here is the next chapter. Thank you for reading and special thanks to those that reviewed.

I've gotten my self a beta! All hail Marajade179!

A very different sleeping beauty chap 3

The Labyrinth was just as Sarah remembered it and still different.

She stood at the hill where she had started last time, by the scraggly tree with a full view of the Labyrinth all the way to the goblin city and the castle beyond it.

It was to quiet she decided - not that there had been many sounds last time either - but then it had been like the silence of an audience just before the play began, now it was just a sleepy silence.

She followed her friends down to the gate and Hoggle opened the doors with a hand gesture. As they entered the labyrinth Sara saw a fairy on the ground by the gate. It seemed to be sleeping and as she looked closer she saw that there was many more lying around. Hoggle had told her that the potion he used on the pests only made them dizzy and made them stop destroying his plants and that it only worked for a short while, then they flew off again. So this must be something different.

"They are all asleep." Hoggle said sadly. "They started a short while after we discovered the king."

Sarah did not say anything just gave the sleeping fairies a long look and walked on through the gate.

Sarah looked down the corridor both ways unsure, she remembered this one but Hoggle walked neither left nor right. He walked straight on into what seemed like solid brick wall.

"So that's what you meant when you said you'd go neither way." Sarah said and gave Hoggle an accusing look.

"I can't help it that you didn't get the hints Sarah." Hoggle excused himself grumpily. Sarah just snorted and followed him.

This way was much shorter - straight forward and some left turns and there was the goblin city.

This time no one tried to stop them as they walked through the city. Sarah saw some goblin kids playing on the street but even they had a sleepy expression and languid movements.

There was a high hedge of thorn bushes growing around the castle. Sarah's first instinct was to start laughing uncontrollably. Somehow she managed not to and Hoggle, being a gardener, cut through the thick shrubbery to a small door, probably the kitchen door Sarah thought, and they where in the castle.

Sarah first noticed the stale smell, reminding her of visits to summerhouses in the early summer when they'd not yet been aired out after being locked up all winter.

She almost tripped over a sleeping goblin as she followed her friends through the badly lit hallway. As her eyes got used to the bad light she saw that there were many small goblins lying around all over the castle she walked through.

"Are they also asleep because of the curse?" She asked Hoggle.

"Nah they are always like this. Only wakes up after nightfall if ever." Hoggle sneered.

"But they have gotten harder to wake up after the king fell asleep." Sir Didymus objected.

"That's because there is no one to threaten them with the bog if they don't wake up." Hoggle told him.

Hoggle found a candle lying around to light up the dark corridors of the castle. The castle turned out to be a labyrinth within the labyrinth. Sir Didymus told Sara that the trick was to always go left to get to the centre, or in this case the royal chambers in the centre tower.

After a very long walk and a maybe a longer climb of stairs, Sarah stumbled in to the royal bedchamber.

"Damn. I need to work out more." Sara commented feeling the stair climb in her legs already.

The room was big and circular, there was one door leading to a bathroom and a balcony door as well as three windows with windowsills big enough to sit in.

If Sara had known anything about architecture and building work she probably would have noticed that the room was much bigger on the inside then on the outside and how there could be rooms attached to this when the tower was round. As it was now she did not think about it.

The room was done in gold, silver, white and black colours that was just on the edge of being to much but some how pulled it off anyway. Its definitely Jareth's room Sarah thought to herself.

Right in front of her was the large gold and silver bed and on it was the origin of several of Sarah's dreams, both good and bad. The goblin king lay on his back on the bed, boots and all.

Sarah moved so she stood by his head. Even the fearsome goblin king had a cute and vulnerable expression as he slept she noted in her mind.

"So… now what?" she asked her friends in a uncertain voice.

"You're the fairy-tale expert here! How do you usually wake someone from an enchanted sleep?" Hoggle said in a 'are you stupid or what?' voice.

Sara blushed and thought about how things usually went in stories and blushed some more. She had to kiss Jareth! Then her mind went on and thought about the original sleeping beauty story in which the princess doesn't wake up by a kiss, the prince rapes her and she dose not wake up until she gives birth to twins. And then she remembered the version of Snow white by Neil Gaiman from the stepmother's perspective in which snow white is a vampire and the prince a necrophilia. I hope this story is PG13 rated, Sarah though because she had no intentions of doing anything more than kiss the goblin king, 'At least not when he is asleep', a small part of her whispered.

Hoggle coughed discreetly and Sarah returned from her thoughts seeing them standing by the door waiting for her to do something.

Don't think just do it she told herself, took a deep breath and kissed the goblin king.

It felt magnetic, like she couldn't stop even if she wanted to. For a moment or two she felt like she was flying light as a feather, the moment past and left her light headed wondering if she'd only feel that way when waking someone from enchanted sleep or if it was because of Jareth. She slowly withdrew from the goblin king still a bit dizzy. Realising she had not opened her eyes yet she did so, and saw right in to the miss matched pair of Jareth the goblin king and froze.

"Sarah?" he said slowly reaching up whit a leather clad hand to touch her face. "You have grown." He remarked before he dragged her down for another kiss.

'Definitely nothing to do whit breaking enchantments', was Sarah's first thought when she recovered her ability to think, the next was 'wow' quickly followed by 'he's really good at this', after some more kissing with out any real thoughts she got the feeling that she had forgotten something, it took even more time before she remembered what. 'You're making out with The Goblin King in front of Hoggle, Didymus and Ludo!' That thought made her end the kiss fast, whit a small part of her cursing wildly about the unfairness of things.

Jareth did not seem very happy about it either, and he seemed to consider complaining until he noticed her worried looks and his three subjects in the doorway. Yawning and stretching like a cat, Jareth sat up. Sarah felt herself blush again and blamed it totally on the small part of her mind that was not so small really and just now had been undressing Jareth with her eyes.

"So" Jareth said when he was done with his stretching. Sarah never heard one short word say so much, in that syllable he demanded that they'd tell him just what they were doing in his bedroom, why everything seemed so dusty, why Sarah was obviously much older and why his subjects looked like something the cat dragged in.

"Your majesty, allow me to explain, you have been the victim of a curse making you sleep for the last seven years. Me and my brothers in arms have help to guide Lady Sarah here as she was the only one who could wake you from the enchanted sleep." The little knight explained sweeping with his plume hat.

"I was asleep for seven years?" Jareth asked.

"Yes your majesty."

"Is the kingdom still standing?" One royal eyebrow rose with the question.

"More or less your majesty, we have done our best to keep it intact."

"Well done."

"We have managed to keep your situation unknown to the neighbouring countries to your majesty."

"They would not care anyway" Jareth scoffed and rose from the bed and walked to stand by the window. "Why is there a thorn bush grooving around my castle Hoggis? As head gardener I would think that you where a bit more dutiful than to just stop working because I'm not here making sure you work."

"I have been cutting it down! It ayn't my fault that the blasted hedge grove's up again every night. We figured it had something to do whit the curse." Hoggle defended himself.

"Should it not be gone now when the curse is lifted then?"

"Well eh um" Hoggle stuttered.

"How about you do something about it Hegdwar?" Jareth said with a voice like silk hiding a razor-blade.

"Well of coarse your majesty, immediately." Hoggle said and almost ran out of the room. Jareth smiled as the dwarf left the room in a way that you usually do to an old friend, but stopped as he noticed the other inhabitants of the room looking.

"Why don't you take the furry beast and go help him sir Didymus?" He asked in an almost friendly way.

"It will be a pleasure my sovereign. Come brother! Let us help our gardening friend!" the little fox knight said and he and Ludo left the room.

Sarah didn't realise until the door closed after her friends that she now was alone in the room with the king.

"So Sarah, care to continue what we started?" She heard the king just behind her.

To be continued…

(Is there anyone else that can't here the word shrubbery without thinking of Monty Python? Ni! Ni! Ni!)

As always please keep reviewing!


	4. Chapter 4

This chapter was delayed because of real life it happens to everyone now and then.

This chapter is short but it is not the end there will be one more chapter, a kind of epilogue.

Thanks to everyone that read favourite and review.

Special thanks to Athena's Avatar (Look I explain it in this chapter) and to my wonderful beta Michele who takes time out of her hectic life to edit this story.

A very different sleeping beauty chap 4

"So Sarah, care to continue what we started?" The Goblin King practically purred.

Sarah quickly spun around at the sound of his voice.

"Wh- what?" Sara asked, instinctively backing away from the looming predatory presence of the goblin king.

"Sarah you if anyone should know how Fairy-tales like this end, we only have the 'happily ever after' left now. Jareth said smiling showing off his pointy teeth and making Sarah feel even less secure.

"Wait a second, that was not a part of my contract!" Sarah protested and realised she was backing closer and closer to the wall and decided to hold her ground so she wouldn't back herself in to a corner. - literally.

"Sarah the normal reward for saving a kingdom and a royalty is at least half the kingdom and a prince or princess to marry. As I don't have any princes or princesses and doubt the labyrinth would like to be split in two, I offer you to be my queen and rule beside me."

"But… but ..I didn't really do anything! I just followed Hoggle and Didymus thru the labyrinth and the castle." She protested.

"Of coarse it was easy, you already solved the labyrinth, what did you think? Hoggle told you when you entered did he not? 'Once you've gotten to the centre you don't get out again.' 'You can check out any time you want but you can never leave' my dear." The goblin king explained still smiling, and showed that the Eagles reached even the underground.

"What?! But I won! I got the baby back and returned home! Sarah half screamed.

"Yes but that was a different story dear. Besides you can't really believe I would let the champion of the labyrinth grow old and die, sooner or later you'd come back here Sara, one way or another, I'm happy it was sooner rather than later." He said it with such self-assured smugness that Sara felt like screaming and acting like an angry 6 year old.

"And what if I'm not ready for a happily ever after?"

"Come now Sara you know sequels never meet up to the expectations."

"Maybe it's not a sequel, maybe it's another part in a series." Jareth gave her a long look that Sarah met whit out blinking.

"What do you propose we do then?" he said whit a sigh.

"Why don't you send me back aboveground so I can pass college at least and then we'll take it from there?"

"You'd rather go to college than be queen of the goblins?"

"It's not like that, it just sounds so final and there are so many things I haven't done yet. I don't even know you, how am I supposed to marry you?"

"I suppose you have a point. But how are we going to get to know etch other when you are above studying and I am here ruling?"

"We do as everyone does, visit each other. You can leave this place without anyone wishing something away right?"

"Of course I can." Jareth said a bit put off.

"And I can come here thru the mirror." Sara continued ignoring his anger.

"You think this will work?"

"I think it is worth a try." Sara looked at him whit her best puppy eyes.

"Oh I was never able to deny you anything Sara. Fine I'll send you home and we will visit often, and when you graduate you will come and be my queen. Right?"

"Unless we find it impossible to live with etch other."

"Fine. Shall I send you home immediately?" Jareth obviously was not happy with the arrangement but he would do anything for Sarah.

"Just let me say good by to my friends first." Sara said and hurried out the door. Jareth watched her go whit a stony face. She had defied him again and turned his world around. Shaking his head he wondered why she couldn't for once do as she was expected.

Thru the window he saw the girl hug her friends' good-bye. Feeling a sudden sting of envy he looked away.

After changing clothes by crystal puff he started looking over the kingdom to see what had happened as he was sleeping, until Sarah returned.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, Good-bye Jareth, I'll see you around I guess." She looked at him shyly a second before she took a step forward and gave him a quick kiss. Jareth quickly masked his surprise and smiled at her.

"Good-bye Sara, until we meet next."

A crystal crashed at the floor right before her feet erupting in a cloud of glitter, when the glitter settled Sara was gone. The Goblin king stared at the spot she had been a moment ago with a smile still feeling her lips against his. She defied him and turned his world but he didn't really want her any other way.


End file.
